Alex and Maranatha met at athletes' retreat in the fall of 2021. She was a freshman at Colorado Christian University and he was was a sophomore. They were both on the cross country team.

When Maranatha met Alex for the first time, she remembers thinking, “This guy is interesting, I wonder if we would ever date…” Alex remembers thinking, "Wow, this girl seems a little crazy..." From there, they mostly went their separate ways, interacting only in the context of the cross country team.

Later that year, Maranatha realized she had a crush on Alex. Alex, however, did not return this sentiment, and she was quick to move on.

Fall of 2022 rolled around, and there they were again at athletes' retreat. Alex (a junior) and Maranatha (a sophomore) were more than just acquaintances at this point, but they would hardly have called each other friends. They had mutual regard for one another, but never really talked or hung out outside of the context of cross country. However, upon seeing each other at athletes' retreat, conversation flowed naturally as Alex and Maranatha caught up from the summer and discussed the classes they shared, both being in the Biblical Studies program. As the semester went on, Maranatha again found herself liking Alex, but, remembering that Alex had showed no interest the previous year, she figured there was no hope. Maranatha's feelings only grew though, and when she couldn’t take a weekend trip without being distraught from missing him, she knew she had caught a bad case of the love bug.

Although she may not have realized it, this time Alex had taken notice of Maranatha, and did, in fact, like her back. Their mutual interest was becoming evident to both of them, until Alex asked Maranatha on a date. Their first date was on November 12, 2022. It started with a walk around Golden, CO, and some hot tea. It went well, and six hours later Alex dropped Maranatha off at her apartment.

They made their relationship official a couple weeks after that first date and then went home to their separate states for Christmas.

Spring semester brought many joys, as the two got to know each other better in the early stages of dating. Alex came up to Alaska after finals and got to meet Maranatha's family. Over the summer, Maranatha flew down to visit him and his family in Wisconsin for a week.

When the fall of 2023 rolled around, Alex and Maranatha began to have more serious conversations. Alex, being a lot more decisive than Maranatha, knew where he wanted this relationship to go before she did. Ultimately, it didn't take too long for both of them to come to the same conclusion.

On October 8th, Maranatha took Alex to the classroom that they had studied in on the night he asked her to be his girlfriend. She acted causal and “spontaneously” suggested they play a round of hangman on the whiteboard. She wrote out enough dashes to spell, “Alex Vance, I want to marry you," and watched his whole demeanor change as he slowly came to the realization that this wasn’t just any old game of hangman. About a month later, they would be engaged.

On November 12th, 2023, Alex and Maranatha went back to Golden and re-enacted the memory of their first date - river walk, tea, and all. After hiking to a spot from Lookout Mountain, Alex got down on one knee.

Alex and Maranatha are grateful for the many blessings that the Lord has provided to them throughout the first stages of their relationship, and they eagerly anticipate what he will do as they transition into marriage. They see marriage itself as a gift from the Lord that is to be stewarded and used for the advance of the gospel and the glory of Christ. In light of this, Alex and Maranatha have spent time in the months leading up to marriage praying for direction as they move forward, and would greatly appreciate prayers for the same from family and friends.

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